668
PUBLIC LAW 231—OCT. 30, 1951
[65 STAT.
modifications therein as are fair, just, and equitable, giving consideration among other factors to: Priorities of water rights; Acreage irrigated; Acreage irrigable under existing works; and Potentially irrigable lands. ARTICM: VI
Nothing contained in this Compact shall be so construed or interpreted as to affect adversely any rights to the use of the waters of Yellowstone River and its tributaries owned by or for Indians, Indian tribes, and their reservations. ARTICLE
VII
A. A lower signatory State shall have the right, by compliance with the laws of an upper signatory State, except as to le^slative consent, to file application for and receive permits to appropriate and use any waters in the Yellowstone River System not specifically apportioned to or appropriated by such upper State as provided in Article V; and to construct or participate in the construction and use of any dam, storage reservoir, or diversion works in such upper State for the purpose of conserving and regulating water that may be apportioned to or appropriated by the lower State: Provided, That such right is subject to the rights of the upper State to control, regulate, and use the water apportioned to and appropriated by i t: And provided further, That should an upper State elect, it may share in the use of any such facilities constructed by a lower State to the extent of its reasonable needs upon assuming or guaranteeing payment of its proportionate share of the cost of the construction, operation, and maintenance. This provision shall apply with equal force and effect to an upper State in the circumstance of the necessity of the acquisition of rights by an upper State in a lower State. B. Each claim hereafter initiated for an appropriation of water in one signatory State for use in another signatory State shall be filed in the Office of the State Engineer of the signatory State in which the water is to be diverted, and a duplicate copy of the application or notice shall be filed in the office of the State Engineer of the signatory State in which the water is to be used. C. Appropriations may hereafter be adjudicated in the State in which the water is diverted, and where a portion or all of the lands irrigated are in another signatory State, such adjudications shall be confirmed in that State by the proper authority. Each adjudication is to conform with the laws of the State where the water is diverted and shall be recorded in the County and State where the water is used. D. The use of water allocated under Article V of this Compact for projects constructed after the date of this Compact by the United States of America or any of its agencies or instrumentalities, shall be charged as a use by the State in which the use is made: Provided, That such use incident to the diversion, impounding, or conveyance of water in one State for use in another shall be charged to such latter State. ARTICLE
VIII
A lower signatory State shall have the right to acquire in an upper State by purchase, or through exercise of the power of eminent domain, such lands, easements, and rights-of-way for the construction, operation, and maintenance of pumping plants, storage reservoirs, canals,
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